Leeds centre

The new regional centre in Leeds will incorporate state-of-the-art training areas for our dogs, plus dedicated facilities that enable us to support children and young people with sight loss and their families.

It will become an integral hub, supporting the communities across Yorkshire and the North East and linking teams across Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull. It will have a lasting impact, helping people to live more active and independent lives.

The current centre

Interior view within a room at the existing Leeds centre that is due for redevelopment

The current Leeds centre is a great base for the North East of England but it was leased and shared with other organisations. This limited our ability to expand and develop the site to meet the growing and increasingly complex needs of people with sight loss. However, thanks to two very generous donations, we've been able to purchase the freehold of the centre, which now allows us to redevelop the building into a bespoke and dedicated space for Guide Dogs services.

Your support will help us transform the dark, disjointed and inaccessible space into a purpose-designed, light and airy building that facilitates the training of dogs and the support of people with sight loss and their families.

The new build and vision

Conceptual computer generated image of the exterior of the Leeds centre

We're currently working with architects to transform the space in the existing building to provide a hub of activity and support for people with sight loss and their families.

The new centre will provide dedicated spaces for children and young people - something that's not possible in the current space. This will include the ability to provide our new early intervention service My Time to Play, with access to a sensory room and spaces for families to receive the support they need to help their children develop and grow.

The centre will be designed to include shared spaces for dogs, people with sight loss, their families and volunteers, providing a flexible, enriching space that will encourage learning and interaction. It will facilitate the growth of a like-minded community where everyone benefits from shared experiences.

The redevelopment will also enable us to partner more people with sight loss to a life-changing guide dog, by providing state-of-the-art dog facilities that enable us to train and care for our future life-changing guide dogs at the highest level. These facilities will help us reduce the training times and train more dogs. We aim to more than double the number of dogs that can be trained on-site and we expect to match 130 new guide dog partnerships across the North East of England each year.